While I have no problem with the dog.
She was looking for Traditional dining [though I think PC will work much better for her] and to suggest that someone else alergic or whatever to the dog can go to the other dining room is a bit much especially since there is only ONE traditional dining room on board.

Also, hasn't occurred to people that if an emergency occurred during dinner, the person with the service dog needs it at her side, not sitting back in the cabin. Service animals are like an extension of the person, not an accessory.

As far as people with allergies, many people are allergic to something. I find dogs no different than perfume or flowers, etc. I wouldn't presume to tell someone they couldn't wear perfume or to get rid of their flowers. If you are sitting at a table near a service animal and are allergic, ask to be re-seated elsewhere, just as you would if you sat next to a person whose perfume was overpowering you. It's amazing to me how we would confront someone who needs this animal to get around, but not confront someone who has control over what they spray on their body or hair. There are sometimes when the rest of us need to be inconvenienced, but personally, I don't see a service dog as an inconvenience.

What I really want to know is how many people here feed their animals tidbits from their own table, but then complain about a service dog sitting quietly as it's master's side. If the mere presence of an animal is "unhygienic", then I'd say quite a few people have tables at home they shouldn't invite others to.

Although I have no problem with the service dog in the dining room - I doubt most dog lovers feed their dogs from their own table during dinner. It is rude and isn't even good for the dog. I have lived my life with dogs - for more than 40 years - and neither my mother nor I ever allowed them to be fed during dinner.

Betty - my dog, too has the CGC award.....he has not kept up his behavior very well - he seemed to be a dog that 'tested' well. I do sometime want to get him ready to be a certified therapy dog......dogs are just wonderful companions.

While you may not feed your animals at the table, I know many people who do. I agree with what you say and it's certainly not good for the dog. But many people have become accustomed to treating their animals like children and do indeed feed them at the table, let them lie on the table (I'm thinking of cat owners here), etc.

Well I won't go into the gory details, let's just say that what was suppose to be a 7 day cruise turned out to be a 3 day cruise. I was manhandled by Princess cruise line ground crew at Ft. Lauderdale (bruises and bloody knee to prove it), since my plane was 10 minutes late and even though Princess Cruise/Delta Airlines and my TA were on a conference call with me in Atlanta they promised that other people were in the same predicament and the ship would be held. I finally picked up the ship at St. Maarten, where I spent two days in bed recovering from a major M.S. episode. Now regarding the dog - there were no problems in the dining room, everyone fell in love with her (who sees an Alaskan Malamute service dog every day), and to appease an elderly couple on the pool deck who had once owned an Alaskan Malamute, we did a group howl with my cabin mate and the husband. Needless to say, we received a standing ovation. I found that most people understood what service dogs were about, and had no problem sharing dining room, or any other space with her. She went potty in a box they had ready for her on deck 7. I actually found that people were more accepting of a dog than children/teens/or downright miserable adults.

We usually book plane reservations a day prior for that very reason. If we hadn't on our Baltic cruise, we would have been S.O.L. because we were delayed a full 24 hours on our flight to London. In that case we would have had to take two planes to catch up with the ship in Germany. Did the cruise line book your flights? The timing seems awfully close for my comfort.

I'm also sorry about your health flare up! What a bummer! I'm so glad the dog was well accepted. It sounds like your canine friend had a good cruise and probably had the advantage of not knowing about the unexpected changes in itinerary.

I do hope you enjoyed the few days of good vacation and that they were a blast.